VOLLEYBALL: Bulldogs keep winning ahead of Ivy League Tournament
The Yale women's volleyball team will be the No. 1 seed at this weekend’s tournament.
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The Yale women’s volleyball team is not done winning yet.
The Bulldogs won the Ivy League regular season championship for the third time in four seasons last weekend. Yale and Princeton both topped the conference with 13–1 league records, but the Blue and White clinched the No. 1 seed at this weekend’s Ivy League tournament with an overall season record of 21–2.
Five Bulldogs were recognized by the Ivy League while head coach Erin Appleman earned her second Ivy League Coach of the Year award.
“From the start, I think everyone understood it’s not a sprint,” said Mila Yarich ’25. “It’s a marathon.”
With a historical 17-game winning streak, the Ivy championship is well-deserved.
However, the journey to the championship was well-fought, with its fair share of ups and downs.
“We came into the season with a goal. We never tried to get in over our heads, we stayed confident, and working hard and it paid off in the regular season,” said Cara Shultz ’25.
Two Bulldogs — Carly Diehl ’25 and Audrey Leak ’24 — were named first team All-Ivy First Team.
Diehl, a setter, finished her second season as second in the league for assists. As a rookie, Diehl earned All-Ivy honorable mention.
Leak, an outside hitter, averaged 3.12 kills per set and earned the second most points for the team with 288 throughout the season. In September, Leak was named Ivy League Player of the Week.
Teammates Maile Somera ’24 and Yarich earned All-Ivy Second Team.
Somera, a libero, has 373 digs this season with an average of 4.14 digs per set. She finished third in the league for digs per set as well as service aces per set.
Yarich, an outside hitter, finished the season with a total of 290 kills and averaged 3.12 kills per set. Yarich is also Yale’s Academic All-Ivy selection.
The Ivy League named middle hitter Gigi Barr as an honorable mention. Barr, a middle hitter, averaged 2.56 kills per set with 242 kills this season.
On Nov. 12, the Bulldogs beat Ancient Eight rivals Harvard 3–0 to clinch a share of the Ivy League title. This win capped off a record-breaking season for the Blue and White — who dropped only one game in conference play. While Yale and Princeton share the championship, the Ivy League tournament will be held in New Haven due to league regulations on tiebreaks.
“It feels amazing continuing this Yale volleyball winning legacy,” wrote captain Renee Shultz ’23. “I am so proud to be part of such a hardworking and successful program, and to now have earned 3 Ivy rings in the last 4 seasons. I also feel really happy for the younger girls who are experiencing their first Ivy championship — their first but hopefully not their last.”
The top four teams in the Ivy League will filter into Yale’s John J. Amphitheater to face off for the Ivy League Volleyball Tournament. Yale and Princeton have the top two seeds, followed by third place Brown and fourth place Dartmouth.
Yale will go up against Dartmouth this Friday and the Bulldogs are more ready than ever heading into the game.
“We’re going to host [the tournament] and we’re really excited. I’m really happy and pleased with the team being Ivy Champions,” said head coach Erin Appleman.
The 2022 Ivy League Volleyball Tournament begins this Friday, Nov. 18 with Yale starting off against Dartmouth and Princeton going up against Brown. Tickets can be found here.